I think volunteer management is a very complicated and interesting subject. If people have more to say, I would be interested in hearing. I don't want anyone on the list to feel silenced.
from Bruce Carmel

--- On Wed, 6/18/08, Lee Jewett <LJewett at tacomacommunityhouse.org> wrote:

From: Lee Jewett <LJewett at tacomacommunityhouse.org>
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2670] Re: Problem Tutor How to Handle It
To: "The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List" <englishlanguage at nifl.gov>
Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008, 3:24 PM








Hello Everyone,
I have heard and learned a lot about some of the issues in dealing with a difficult or mismatched tutor; however, it seems like this horse is dead now.  
The tone has changed and I would like to move on to another topic. 
Sincerely,
 

Lee Jewett
ljewett at tchonline.org
206.682.9112 / 253.383.3951
Literacy Network Of Washington
A division of Tacoma Community House
www.LiteracyNOW.info
1314 S. "L" Street
Box 5107
Tacoma WA 98415




From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov] On Behalf Of Kelly Castle
Sent: Wednesday, June 18, 2008 5:01 AM
To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2669] Re: Problem Tutor How to Handle It
 
This sounds really horrendous Karin and it's scary to think of the many school children this tutor must have damaged.   

When I worked in a programme that used volunteers 1 to 1 tutors we had a rigorous training programme as part of which we used activities to identify such negative attitudes and behaviours - trainees were given the opportunity to demonstrate that they had learned to give appropriate feedback and that any teaching they did matched the students interests and aspirations.  Those that didn't were screened/counselled out pretty quickly.  All tutors were monitored - managers/organisers would visit to observe and appraise teaching - including materials used.  These sessions would also identify training needs. Training sessions on topics like assessment for learning which includes giving positive, constructive feedback or matching resources to learner interests would benefit everyone.

 All staff - whether paid or unpaid - had regular appraisal meetings with their line manager.   If your organisation does not have the resources/staff to undertake appraisal or monitoring visits you could introduce peer observation/mentoring as a training strategy so she can see one or more good models - if the peer pairs then got together to jointly reflect on what they had observed it might encourage her to sharpen up her act!

Apologies if all this has been said before but I haven't read all the responses.  I understand your reluctance to deal with the tutor directly on the basis of this student's complaints - but it does sound like the final straw.  Students need to come first - it sounds highly unlikely that this student is learning very much - which would be sufficient grounds to find her a better teacher - and require the tutor to do some training at the very least.  To save your tutors feelings you might find a new one with some accountancy experience and use that as your excuse and then decide whether retraining or not using the tutor in the future is the best course of action.

Best of luck

kc


Date: Tue, 17 Jun 2008 15:58:10 -0500
 From: ProjectCARE at morton.edu
 To: englishlanguage at nifl.gov
 Subject: [EnglishLanguage 2665] Re: Problem Tutor How to Handle It
 
 I have one problem...the student doesn't want the tutor to know about her feelings! How do I handle this situation in this context. We had a long discussion today- the student and I that is. She used to be an accounting teacher in her country. 
 
I think it would be pretty obvious if I talk to the tutor saying this is what students in the past have said to me. I think the tutor has some knowledge of the fact that she doesn't always handle students well based upon a prior conversation I had with her. 
  
How do I protect the student and talk straight to the tutor? Because I do want to address the problem with the tutor. After reading everyone's comments, I believe that is the best thing to do- be honest with the tutor. I just don't want to violate the trust of the student.

 
 -----Original Message-----
 From: englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov
 [mailto:englishlanguage-bounces at nifl.gov]On Behalf Of Project CARE Sent: Saturday, June 14, 2008 3:52 PM
 To: The Adult English Language Learners Discussion List
Subject: Problem Tutor How to Handle It
 
 
 I have a tutor who is a former high school teacher. She is retired now. She has been with our tutoring program for three years.
 
There have been multiple complaints about this tutor on behalf of his/her students. The most recent example has been brought to my attention in the past couple days. It is the most extreme yet!
 
 According to the student, this tutor uses negative reinforcement..ie do you really want to learn? Uses inappropriate materials...ie not related to everyday life (she was a biology teacher, so she teachers biology to students), or material too hard for the student. She makes the student feel bad about his/her level of English knowledge, making them feel frustrated and ineffectual. Luckily the student told me about this. I am going to talk to the student more about the situation. Obviously the student doesn't want to continue.
 
Do I formally dismiss this tutor? Or, do I just say that I dont' have any students for the tutor at this point and that his/her current student is too busy now with his/her new schedule, With the intention of never giving this tutor another student in the future? I am leaning toward the latter right now.

 Which course of action do I take and what is most effective for everyone involved. I don't want to make the student feel bad or have the tutor call him/her asking what happened? The tutor is very two-faced. Plus, they live in the same community, so I don't want them to run into each other again and have a bad experience. I want to protect my student, who I will try to find another tutor.

Thanks in advance! Any techniques for how to handle this inappropriate tutor and/or breaking up the tutor/student pair will be very helpful.
 
Karin Johnsey

Project CARE
Morton College
Cicero , IL 
708-656-8000 x383






Get 5GB of online storage for free! Get it Now! ----------------------------------------------------
National Institute for Literacy
Adult English Language Learners mailing list
EnglishLanguage at nifl.gov
To unsubscribe or change your subscription settings, please go to
http://www.nifl.gov/mailman/listinfo/englishlanguage
Email delivered to bcarmel at rocketmail.com


      
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://www.nifl.gov/pipermail/englishlanguage/attachments/20080618/48c2dd00/attachment.html